Apply: Adopt-A-Free-Textbook Grants

UTSA Libraries welcomes submissions for Adopt-a-Free-Textbook grants.

These grants support the adoption and creation of free textbooks as the primary textbooks in a single course or in multiple sections of a course.

**3 applicants required for group grants; we encourage department-wide applications for higher impact.
GrantOutcomeStudent CostLicensing RequirementIndividual Award RangeGroup Award Range
No CostAdoption of a library e-book or other no cost learning materialsNo costOpen licensing not required.$500$1,000-2,000
OERAdoption of existing open educational resourcesFreeCreative Commons$1,000$1,500-3,000
DesignModification, remixing, or authoring of original OERFreeCreative Commons$3,500-5,000$5,000-$10,000

Use of Awards

Awards may be used for:

  • professional development: including conference, webinar, or workshop attendance & associated travel expenses
  • materials/supplies that support teaching
  • funding student work on the proposed project

Awards may not be used as a salary supplement. 

Eligibility

  • Open to all UTSA instructors of record, including tenure-track, fixed term track, adjunct, and more.

Selection

Applications are ranked and selected by: 

  1. Students impacted: course enrollment. 
  2. Total student savings.
  3. Course drop, fail, withdraw rate.

Deliverables

All Grants

  • Collaborate with a librarian to find free textbooks
  • Replace required textbook(s) with free textbook(s)
  • Mark course as a Free Textbook course or a Low Cost Textbook course in the Class Schedules
  • Serve as an OER advocate: share your experience with other faculty
  • Attend orientation webinar for grants
  • Complete a final report that includes:  
    • Student evaluations of the textbook
    • Anonymized final grades, including drop, fail, and withdraw rates
    • Final syllabus and future plans 

No Cost & Adoption Grants Only

  • Teach with free textbooks 4 semesters

Design Grants Only

  • Create OER within 12 months 
  • Teach with OER for 2 semesters 
  • Share OER in national and Texas repositories 
  • Attend Pressbooks webinar 
  • Attend accessibility webinar 

Support

All Grants

To support grants, the UTSA Libraries will provide textbook matches for adoption and adaptation. Librarians have expertise with Creative Commons licenses and copyright and fair use: foundational aspects of any OER project. The library works with Academic Innovation to integrate final projects into Blackboard, and can create Research Guides accessible outside the LMS. The library is an OpenStax Partner School and a member of both the Open Education Network and Texas Digital Library.

Design Grants

The UTSA Libraries team will support grant projects through all phases: from crafting a publication timeline to training on UTSA Pressbooks. Additional support includes accessibility guidance in UTSA Pressbooks, ISBN and DOI assignment, and sharing final OER for maximum reach and preservation.  Read more on OER Creation: Support for Faculty Authors.


Application Checklist

Course Information

  • • Syllabus
  • • Current textbooks, including price

Your Plan

  • • Proposed Textbooks
  • • Spending Plan

File Uploads

  • • Narrative
  • • Timeline
  • • Group and Design Grants:

Apply Now

Applications are due Monday, March 18, 2024.

Please submit a separate application for each course. 

No Cost Textbook Adoption 

OER Textbook Adoption 

OER Textbook Design 

Looking for more grant opportunities? Check out the state funded OER grants.

FAQ

OER are “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium - digital or otherwise - that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.(UNESCO, 2022).

Questions?

Unsure which application is the best fit or have other questions? Email us at oer@utsa.edu.